Western Yell County still searching for first varsity winCourier sports staff

SUBIACO - The Trojans scored their first touchdown of the 2007 season early, but the Ola Mustangs responded with 180 yards passing, 139 yards rushing and a 28-6 road win Friday night in Logan County.

Give Ola (1-0) back those four fumbles suffered inside the 20-yard line, and the game could have gotten out of hand in a hurry, Mustangs coach David Minnie said after the game.

"The defense did a great job," Minnie said. "Subiaco's only score came early in the game, then our defense really stood up and shut them down. We were able to drive the ball on offense. Matt Damon did a great job of finding his receivers.

"We did have some turnovers. We had four fumbles in the red zone (inside 20-yard line). We can't be turning the football over in the red zone like that. But offensively and defensively, we had pretty good balance."

Ola went on top 7-0 as Tyler King hauled in a 48-yard pass from Damon with 4:18 in the first quarter. Will King rumbled across the goal line from 10 yards out with 6:55 to go in the second quarter for Ola's 14-6 advantage. Damon connected with Will King on a 35-yard touchdown strike in the second quarter to give the Mustangs a 21-6 margin at halftime.

Finally, in the third quarter, Tyler King rushed for another 10-yard touchdown to wrap up the game's scoring. Reyes Robledo was a perfect 4-for-4 in point-after kicks for Ola, which travels to Perryville next week to face a battle of the Mustangs in Perry County.

Cutter Morning Star 28, Western Yell County 24

The Wolverines are still looking for their first win after falling short Friday night against Cutter Morning Star.

Western Yell County (0-1) had eight turnovers in the game, and still had a chance at the end to win.

"We have got to cut out the turnovers and mistakes," Wolverine head coach Mark Tolton said. "The guys could see tonight that we were so close to winning, and they kept looking at me saying, 'We can do it.'"

After the Eagles took an 8-0 lead, the Murry brothers put the Wolverines on the board as Jesse found Johnny for a 35-yard touchdown pass. Cutter Morning Star added to there score to go up 18-6, but WYC came back as the Murry brothers hooked up again for the score.

The Eagles took a 20-12 lead into the break, then scored their final touchdown early in the second half to lead 28-12. The Wolverines didn't give up, though. Late in the third, the WYC defense forced a fumbled and returned it for a touchdown to pull the Wolverines within 10 points. Midway through the fourth, Jesse Murry found teammate Curtis Bland on a fade route for the final score of the night.

"The kids busted their tales tonight," Tolton said. "I was really pleased with the way our 10th graders stepped up and helped out tonight."

WYC returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday as it hosts Mountain Pine.

Lamar 40, Magazine 0

Lamar (1-0) gained 344 yards on the ground in the Warriors's 40-0 win over Magazine on Friday. Matt Jones led a tough defense with 6 1/2 tackles with one for a loss in a shutout of the Ratters (0-1). Ariel Ragsdale was also a big contributor on defense with 4 1/2 tackles with three for losses. Brett Young had the lone sack for the Warriors, having a total of 4 1/2 tackles with one tackle for a loss.

The Warriors took an early 6-0 lead when Jonathan Justice scored on a 4-yard touchdown run less than 3 minutes after the opening kickoff. Lamar added another touchdown run, a 15-yard scamper by Denvis Moore with less than 4 minutes to go in the first quarter. Justice converted the 2-point conversion to give Lamar a 14-0 lead.

The Warriors added two scores before halftime and took a 34-0 lead into the locker room. Justice rumbled off a 21-yard touchdown run, his second of the night, with less than 10 minutes in the second quarter making it 21-0. Travis Hall found the end zone for the first time this season, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run with less than 6 minutes to go, but Lamar missed the point-after kick. Hall doubled his touchdown total, with a monster 57-yard touchdown run with less than 3 minutes to go before halftime, giving the Warriors a 34-point lead.

Lamar scored once in the second half. Ragsdale scored on a 16-yard touchdown run. The Warriors combined for a team total of 55 tackles, barely using their passing game as starting quarterback D.J. Shaw was 2-for-3 for 36 yards in the first half.

Lamar will host Subiaco Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday in its home opener.